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jodean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
al of this one. But it's an exception.
I don't think anything can compare to the original trilogy, but this book makes me look at it all in a new light. It answers questions I didn't think to ask.
<Spoiler>Also, Sejanus deserved better and God I hope Lucy Gray made it somewhere better.
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Classism, Medical content, Confinement, and Alcohol
Moderate: War, Slavery, Addiction, Animal death, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
astrangewind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Hunger Games take on a whole new meaning in this book - only ten years after the war, before all the pomp and flair, from the perspective of not only a mentor, but Corionalus Snow, the Big Bad Villain Man in the original Hunger Games trilogy. Here, we see the televised nature of the Games as an awkward affair, which provide the barest suggestion of what they will become by the time Katniss gets to them. The Games themselves are distanced; we only see the violence that happens from the mentors' eyes, who are largely interested in their tribute's survival only inasmuch as their fame and recognition depend on it. So much unlike the original trilogy where the reader, too, is inside the arena.
It's 500+ pages of following around the future president of Panem; of course we know it doesn't end well. That's what makes this book so captivating - Coriolanus is not a hero. He's a bystander, only caring about others in terms of how they affect his long-term goals, willing to step on those he deems subhuman.
When I read The Hunger Games for the first time, I was barely in high school. Back then, the draw of the books for me was that a bunch of teenagers were killing each other. Now, as I read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I wonder if the trilogy was this damn obvious. The reaping on July 4th, Coriolanus's hatred of Sejanus as a district-born Capitol citizen whose family has more money than his, the way he talks about the tributes other than his, the one he can use.
The Hunger Games were books about rebellion, revolution, fighting against oppression, no matter the cost. And there were costs. But this is a book about suppression. About how apathy and self-interest turns you into a monster that you don't care about becoming. About how the circumstances of your birth and life informs how you see others - that even though you might be eating cabbage soup inside of a penthouse with marbled floors, at least you're not district poor.
Coriolanus's obliviousness, selfishness, and downright sociopathy make him so unlikeable, but I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to see him punished - but, of course, why would he be? He gets the top spot in Panem's hierarchy.
Everything Collins does is clever: Sejanus's name, rooted from Janus, a god often portrayed with two faces; Coriolanus's abject hatred of the mockingjays as soon as he encounters them; the funeral of the Ring twins, where several tributes were dragged behind horse-drawn chariots, conjuring images of Achilles's dragging of Hector during the Trojan War. Her treatment of Coriolanus's PTSD from the bombings is superb and accurate. The characterization of Tigris as a mother figure, too.
Really just an incredible book that makes me want to reread The Hunger Games.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Child death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Classism, and Murder
Moderate: War, Slavery, Grief, and Addiction
Minor: Vomit, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
emma97louise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, War, Animal death, Murder, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and War
nellsir's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War
Moderate: Dementia
tabbed_reads2much's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Classism, Child death, Child abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Slavery
Maybe I just hate snow but this book was not itwajeemba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Writing was pretty well done. Characters generally behaved in a way that was consistent with their motivations, though one decision was more plot driven than believable in my opinion.
Graphic: Child death, Classism, and Slavery
Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Addiction, Toxic friendship, and War
It's a hunger games book. The elitism and callous disregard for life are rife throughout the book. Though it's on the shorter side and classified as a young adult book, I would not recommend for an audience younger than late teens at least.smalljoys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Animal death, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Suicide, and Grief
cait's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Police brutality, Sexism, Slavery, Stalking, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Torture, and Toxic friendship
elenaluisa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, and Sexism
lucimolri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Desde que se anunció tenía poquísimas expectativas y no tenía intención de leerlo, pero al final me ha enganchado un montón y me ha dejado con ganas de releer la trilogía.
¿Que si es bueno? Pues a ver, para mí ha sido muy entretenido, pero si no eres muy fan de la trilogía y sientes mucha nostalgia por su historia… pues a lo mejor no te gusta.
Para mí empieza muy bien pero pierde fuerza una vez empiezan los juegos del hambre. Está repleta de referencias a la trilogía, claramente hechas para los fanses, y de canciones, muuuuuuuuuchas canciones. No mentiré, llegaba un punto en el que prácticamente me saltaba las canciones, porque igualmente el narrador te las explicaba.
En conclusión: me ha gustado, pero si no te lo lees no te pierdes tampoco nada
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Child death, and War
Moderate: Cannibalism